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To cut a long story longer..
I have commented on a few of the recent COVID posts, that weirdly COVID seemingly has given me Type 2 diabetes. I had previously in the last few years been tested for it due to a few spells of real fatigue, but my hba1c has always been 34-38 so below pre-diabetic levels. Following COVID in the following weeks i started having to get up 3-4 times a night to wee, if i stood up too quickly or was working on DIY in house, i would start to feel dizzy and got very shaky a few times. In addition, started to have pins and needles in hands and feet (hands has stopped, but still in feet most of the time).
I went to GP and was told that hba1c was now 60 and that i was type 2 diabetic and that they wanted to put me on Metformin straight away. This was 10/12/21.
Due to the fact that it came on with COVID, and because there is a family genetic disposition to diabetes, and especially after illness, my daughter is Type 1 and mum, uncle and grandad all became Type 2 following cancer. I therefore felt that as it was due to COVID, that hopefully with recovering from the virus, the T2 would also improve, so i asked not to have the medication for now, as i wanted to see if i could improve my condition myself through exercise and diet, and didn't want the medication to "hide" my true numbers.
I have therefore been on a strict-ish low carb diet, making sure that any carbs i do have are low-Gi, no sugar at all bar that in milk, I am a big lad, was a rugby prop forward for 20 years, but on flip side could cycle 200 miles in a day, my diet wasn't bad in that i cook all my meals, i know what is low-GI etc, but i tended to have large portions. I have also been cooking
My weight has come down from 105kg to 96 this morning (and despite being 96kg i am looking skinny for me), and I have my daughters old blood glucose testing machine. I test first thing in the morning, before lunch and before tea, i also test either side of exercise, and since my diagnosis, the weird thing is my blood glucose was in the 6 and 7's, with diet and exercise (which i struggled with post-COVID anyway), my bloods were coming down to 4 and 5's which is well within normal range. I then had vaccine on 21/12 and bloods crept back up to 6-7's again.
Apologies for long post! But i guess my question for those with more experience of this is:
- How do you best fuel exercise as i increase workload, not wanting to have simple carbs too much? I have been having steel cut proper porridge before rides of 25-30 miles, but am running out of energy, as i don't think has natural carb reserves in liver/ muscles due to low carb diet?
- Despite my scores being between 4-7.4 the whole time since diagnosis and therefore within acceptable levels, i still have a constant feeling of cold and pins and needles in my feet, especially bad at night which keeps me awake, will this resolve as I manage it better?
- Will the feeling of constant fatigue go, again despite near perfect diet and good BG scores, I feel wiped out the whole time, and struggling to have the motivation to get up early to exercise especially when i feel cold a lot more?
- Anyone else found they can manage it fully just through diet and exercise and how hard have you managed to push yourself, as i am not a racer, but my favourite events have always been multi-day bikepacking events?
Sorry for the essay!!
Really sorry to hear this Scud, hope you get it sorted. Might be worth asking on the Bob FB page as I know there are a couple of club members who are LT T2.
It is what it is Andy, positives have been that i am the lighted i have been since 18 years of age and diet is the best it's ever been, unfortunately I am struggling for motivation at the moment, i just want to sleep most of the time!
Give Torq a call. They introduced a gel specifically in mind for diabetics - I don't know enough about it to offer advice but the guys will be able to help. Given their background in exercise & nutrition it would be a great place to start I'd have thought.
https://www.torqfitness.co.uk/product-category/nutrition/diabetes-products
GPs seem to get people onto metformin, luckily I had a diabetic nurse who was keen to get me off it!
But the GP was hyper excited to tell me I was diabetic ( despite the fact that my pervious GP, 6 months before, had told be I wasn't! I wanted to be check as I had all the symptoms ...)
Must go and check my records but I thought with hba1c of 60 would mean you are pre diabetic - 65 is diabetic ??
At my last check I was 60 ( actually 6.0 - so I need to check if we are talking about the same thing) and pre diabetic - if I can get to under 6.0, I am no longer diabetic.
I don't take metformin - did for about a year and then went on a massive weight loss programme with also about 100km of South Downs cycle a week - and now about 10 -12 km of dog walking a day.
I still weigh 105 kg - would like to get to 95.
My cholesterol is slightly heigh - an if you think that they are keen to get you onto metformin, just wait until they mention statins.
Will report back
@mrmoofo, an hba1c of 40-48 is pre-diabetic, anything over 48 is diabetic, i had always previously been 34 or thereabouts, but flew up to 60 in the weeks after the virus..
Thankfully cholesterol was within good limits, as was kidney and liver function..
@mrlebowski thanks for that, i had presumed that the energy gels they did were purely for Type 1's to treat low blood sugar and bring them up (hypos), being Type 2 without medication, i can only be high blood sugars (hypers), but there is a lot of good info there thanks and didn't realise they did specific pasta etc too.
will have a quick look at my stats
My pleasure scud - I hope the boys can help.
Double checked
my HdA1c is 42 - and has come down over two years from 45. 48 is diabetic ( so you are correct)
I have controlled this with diet and exercise. I try and eat as low carb as I can - but I live with an other half who has problems keeping weight on - hence it cannot be carb free. I did go down the zucchini spaghetti , cauliflower rice etc for a long time - but now just try and limit my intake. But you post comes at a good time - as it has been sinking back up, so I will address that as of now.
With my diabetes type 2 the response from medics depended from day to day. I ended up up prednesilone for a two year period trying to rectify and auto immune disease in my eyes - it was on and off for all that till the condition went away. Steroids screw you blood sugar - my HaA1c went up to about 100 for a while. I was told not to worry about it ( they then went on to tell me about patients who had much more severe blood sugar levels - and that levels of 6-8 were "mild'. Nobody had every said that to me before.
As for fuelling - TBH I am not very scientific - to keep control of my weight , I used to fast for 6 weeks every year to shift 12 kgs. Now I do it by a continual 5:2 - which is also meant to be good for insulin intolerance. I have ridden all through the time I am fasting and also do it on one of my 5:2 days - and to be totally honest, I have never really noticed anything different between that and a "well fuelled" day. Most of the rides would be 2 -3 hours , 35 kms, 500m ish of climbing. Much more than that and I can "bonk". As these rides use about 1600 cals for me, I do allow myself a flapjack when we stop for a coffee.
I suppose as I am not hugely competitive - but ride times are consistent! For snacks I try and stay away from the really highly process stuff - and would look toward amore low GI stuff - rather than sweets or biscuits I would look at something like jerky etc.
Anything starchy will ultimately get broken down onto sugars - so low GI / slow release is the way to go.
As a food scientist / ex food industry person of N million years I stay away from energy gels and the like - in most cases it is just a very expensive ( overpackaged and environmentally unfriendly) way of selling sugars!
Something like orange juice may well have just as good an effect - unless you are a prime athlete doing 150km stages through the mountains etc - then if you are going at 10/10th by all means suck on gels.
( BTW , I have not been nr orange , or any other fruit juice in 5 years because of the glucose / fructose content)
Thanks for the great reply mrmoofo.
I went to shops and bought the packs of cauliflower rice etc, until i tasted them! So now i will have brown rice, lentils or wholemeal quinoa instead, but in small portions, or just extra veg.
I am not competitive at all as a cyclist, but do enjoy the big days out especially on bikepacking trips, but diet on those tends to be throwing whatever food i find in shops down my throat, so need to start giving a bit more thought.
Thanks again
Scud, I think the supermarket packets of cauli rice are absolutely gross, but if you pulse up a cauli in a food processor and lightly toast off in the oven at a high temp for a few mins - I find that very delicious.
Scud, just a thought, if you've drastically dropped the carbs (even though not keto) you will feel it energy wise until your body adjusts if all you've effectively done is drop calories. Upping the fat to compensate and encourage your body to use fat will help with over all energy balance.
Also for your rides, you'll need to keep to a low effort as you adjust. More manageable on road, but not really so manageable off road most of the time.
You don’t say how long ago you had Covid.
I had Covid in May and I still have fatigue at times. The first 4-5 months felt like I had “trained” hard and hadn’t even got out of bed.
* I don’t “train” haven’t done that in a long time. Not since rugby days. But I certainly know the feeling.
My Dad is T2 (for last 13 years, though does take metformin the rest is diet controlled), and in answer to your Q
"How do you best fuel exercise as i increase workload, not wanting to have simple carbs too much? I have been having steel cut proper porridge before rides of 25-30 miles, but am running out of energy, as i don’t think has natural carb reserves in liver/ muscles due to low carb diet?"
The main thing for him is little and often whilst riding (which I'll be honest at times riding with him is a bit of a pain) - but balanced - so low GI as above, alongside good fats and protein - so something like half a banana (don't avoid all sugar when exercising as you will crash), an oat cake or two and a nut butter (e.g. Outdoor provisions style). This seems to give him the best chance at keeping going and then he needs to refuel again 10 miles later (he's not the fittest to start with, though now at a very sensible weight and has been getting in the gym recently). If you do take snacks, try and look for stuff with <10% sugar in them (15% at a push if you are doing a load of high intensity). He is fan of the Nain oat biscuit range if you want a bit of sugar tasting stuff (they are actually pretty good).
You might be best with your porridge to also have an egg and some avocado, so you aren't just relying on carbs whilst out on the bike.
I'll be honest it has been a lot of trial and error with my Dad - not helped by my Mum being amazing at health and fitness (and a great support to him); whereas my Dad has no understand of the body at all. I think you are better placed to start with to try and get it right. He was struggling with it all last year, so is now on some online group course where there is peer-to-peer support, and he keeps a photo food diary that a clinical expert reviews. It has been very useful, so might be worth asking your GP for a referral to it. I can ask my Dad the name if you want.
Good luck!
You don’t say how long ago you had Covid.
I had Covid in May and I still have fatigue at times. The first 4-5 months felt like I had “trained” hard and hadn’t even got out of bed.
I had COVID the first few weeks of October '21, had a lot of the common symptoms, felt wiped out, joint aches (especially old injuries weirdly), but the loss of taste / smell stayed for 7-8 weeks, but this seems to be the lasting gift!
@ahsat, thanks for your reply, hadn't thought about oat cakes, do like them too, big fan of peanut butter too cheers.
I was going to say there are dietary ways of reversing T2 diabetes. Michael Mosleys Blood Sugar Diet is worth a look. However It sounds like you've sussed this and are following the principles going low carb, cutting out the sugar etc. Well done for what you've done so far.
As another poster has said - it will take time for your body to adjust if you are following this way of eating. It may take 6-8 weeks maybe more. I started a low carb way of eating 2 years ago. The first couple of bike rides after I started were hard. However over time your body will adjust - previously I had to snack / fuel for a ride over 2 hours / 30 miles (hills depending). Now I'm nearer 60 miles / 4 hours before I need to fuel. It probably was a good 4-6 of months before I really felt back on it - but my lower weight had me smashing all my PRs on the climbs and new PBs on club TTs.
That said there are times when I need to fuel. I use a nut / dried fruit mix I also have recipes for low carb 'flap jacks' that use a nut and fruit mix.
--Freester another big ex rugger formerly 111kg now maintaining at 89kg (that's 3.5 stone loss in old money).
I'm fairly recently discovered diabetic - A1c is around 65 and metformin made no difference so I'm in early stages of further investigation as they think I may be one of the varieties of MODY (annoying really, as I'm mid-fifties so could've had this for many years). Needs a genetic test profile really but that needs "permission" from the big lab's prof before running it so they're gathering circumstantial evidence first
I'm thinking of getting a free month's trial of one of those freestyle-type devices to see for myself what actually happens during my typical day/week
I don't seem to run out of fuel, though I mostly ride for 1-2hr and hardly ever >3
(edit: I'm also pretty skinny at 80ish kg and over 6ft)
I’m fairly recently discovered diabetic – A1c is around 65 and metformin made no difference so I’m in early stages of further investigation as they think I may be one of the varieties of MODY (annoying really, as I’m mid-fifties so could’ve had this for many years). Needs a genetic test profile really but that needs “permission” from the big lab’s prof before running it so they’re gathering circumstantial evidence first
I’m thinking of getting a free month’s trial of one of those freestyle-type devices to see for myself what actually happens during my typical day/week
I don’t seem to run out of fuel, though I mostly ride for 1-2hr and hardly ever >3
(edit: I’m also pretty skinny at 80ish kg and over 6ft)
That's interesting scaredypants - i'd not really heard of MODY, I feel there is a genetic component with my family, it seems odd that on my mum's side, she has bowel cancer and got T2 diabetes, uncle and nan both got it with cancer too, i am 99% sure my is linked to COVID and the inflammation from that, if not it was a large coincidence and that my daughter had T1 from 4 years of age.
I am like you, I feel OK 90% of the time and my blood glucose scores are good all the time now, but still suffering pins and needles feelings in feet, especially at night, and increased need to drink fluid and wee, despite the normal range blood glucose scores.
If you can afford the Freestyle Libre system it is good, my daughter uses it.
Have you looked at Supersapiens?
https://www.supersapiens.com/en-GB/
They use the Libre sensor, but linked it own app, system that is designed for sport and just been banned in Pro tour cycling due to "unfair advantage" it is a constant glucose monitoring system, so you can see glucose levels in real-time.